AusHealth funded research into childhood brain cancer wins $3m federal grant

At the beginning of 2025, Dr Quenten Schwarz received seed funding of $400,000 from AusHealth and the Vonbri Foundation to investigate the causes of childhood brain cancer. Data from that research has since helped his team secure a substantial $3 million grant from the Federal Government to further investigate causes and therapies for a pernicious form of brain cancer called diffuse midline glioma (DMG).

“People don’t realise that brain cancer is responsible for more deaths of Australian children than any other, including leukemia and heart disease,” says Dr Schwarz of the University of Adelaide.

“DMG is a terrible type of brain cancer and we’ve had no major therapy breakthroughs in 20 years.”

The original AusHealth-supported project saw Dr Schwarz, a neuroscientist at Adelaide University, partner with clinician Marion Mateos at the Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney.

Believing there might be a genetic predisposition towards DMG, they engineered a means to model the early developmental stages of brain neurons.

“Our approach was innovative in that we were replicating childhood brain development in a dish. We take stem cells and run them through the normal differentiation course as neurons in the developing brain. These brain organoids are effectively tiny pieces of brain tissue, resembling the different regions of a child’s brain in which cancers form.

“Step one of the project was to establish a robust modelling technique we could use in the lab; step two was to introduce specific genetic variations into the stem cells, making them express known cancer-causing events, and new variants of uncertain clinical significance.”

The science was sound and the data persuasive. Moreover, the timing was serendipitous, coinciding with the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) which was actively looking to support DMG-focussed research.

In December, the childhood brain cancer team was able to announce it has been awarded a $3 million grant from the federal government to fund the project – now called ABOLISH DMG – for a further five years.

The research team will continue introducing genetic mutations into stem cells and pushing them through the differentiation process. “We’re actively looking to see what triggers this terrible brain cancer. When does a cell become malignant? Do these genetic defects actually lead to disease?

“We can also change environmental factors within the model to see how they affect the developing organoids.”

The new modelling system also opens the door to testing DMG tumours with drugs. “We can use existing drugs as well as drugs that haven’t yet been tested. The model opens up a whole treasure trove of resources.”

Dr Schwarz says he’s feeling a degree of pressure to find himself backed by such a large grant but relieved that he can properly resource an expanded team. “We’ve already been able to bring in expertise from other states, from other areas of biology and other areas of science to create a team focused on this one challenge – a challenge that we are hopeful can lead to better outcomes for the kids.”

CEO of AusHealth Dr Justin Coombs is delighted by the news of the new funding. “For Quenten Schwarz’s project to get such a huge endorsement from the MRFF is testament to his team’s dedication and their brilliant science.

“We’re proud to have helped support their work and wish the team the very best in this most important endeavour.”